


Aftershocks

by 42hrb



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Break Up, Getting Back Together, Heartbreak, M/M, Post-Break Up, Stiles-centric, Tattooed Stiles Stilinski, Writer Stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-13
Updated: 2015-11-17
Packaged: 2018-05-01 09:27:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5200751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/42hrb/pseuds/42hrb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I broke his heart.” Stiles said as Lydia held his face in her hands, using one perfectly manicured thumb to wipe away a tear that fell from his eye. </p><p>“Sweetie,” Lydia said softly, “I think you broke yours too.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning. The End. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Anything in italic is a flashback.
> 
> This isn't beta read so I'm so sorry about any mistakes.
> 
> I love feedback so lay it on me!

**May 16 2015**

“Scotty my man, whatcha doing?” Stiles Stilinski practically purred into the phone, his tongue felt thick in his mouth and his breath smelled of whiskey. He was sitting outside of O’Malley’s Pub in New York City, just far enough away from the tourist path that he wasn’t getting weird looks but close enough that he wasn’t alone on the street. The spring air felt heavy like it was going to rain.

“Stiles? Where are you I though you were going out with Derek tonight?” Scott said back, sounding a little worried about his best friend.Stiles could hear the TV in the background and guessed that Kira sprawled across Scott’s lap, popcorn in hers, that was their usual Friday night ritual.

Stiles’ head felt heavy, “Not with Derek, we broke up.” He rested his head in his hands, his phone still against his ear.

“What?” Scott said sharply, “Where are you? Do you need me to come get you?”

Stiles could hear Scott moving around on the phone now, “I’m outside O’Malley’s, I can just get on the subway dude, I’m good.”He tried to stand up and his legs felt like jelly, “On second though, can you get me?”

“I’ll be there in 15,” Scott chirped into the phone and then he hung up.Stiles looked down at the phone’s screen, Derek Hale smiled up at him and he felt like he might be sick, not from the booze but because tonight he had done what he had always sworn to himself that he wouldn’t do, he had broken Derek’s heart.  

Scott and Kira came running up the street 13 minutes later, they must have sprinted from the subway station, Stiles though as they helped him to his feet and guided him toward the subway so they could get back to their shitty 2 bedroom apartment. “Scott.” Stiles said as he slumped against his best friend's shoulder once they were inside the train. 

“What happened buddy?” Scott asked, his brown eyes full of questions and sympathy, “Did he hurt you?”Scott McCall had been Stiles’ best friend since they were 4 years old, they had moved to New York City together for college and never left each others side, through relationships and family drama they had been each others constant.

“Worst,” Stiles groaned, “I hurt him.” 

 

**2010 - September**

_Derek Hale joined their friend group junior year of high school, well he hadn’t really joined so much as been forced into it by his friends.Derek’s best friend Isaac Lahey started dating Scott’s ex-girlfriend and current good friend, Allison Argent.Derek had been a quiet, but popular, dude who no one outside his little trio knew anything about, except that his freshman year he had been seduced by the guidance counselor (who happened to be Allison’s aunt, that had been pretty awkward for all parties involved).She was now in jail and Derek was dating the student body president Jen Blake._

_It was an odd mix of kids at their lunch table, Stiles and Scott were obviously best friends, Allison was still close with Scott and even closer with Stiles, Lydia, Allison’s best friend, was dating Jackson, who was a total d-bag in Stiles’ opinion, and where Jackson was, Danny was.There was also Vernon Boyd, who was a gentle giant that they had ‘adopted’ (we didn’tadopt him Stiles he isn’t a puppy)._

_The addition of Isaac, Derek and Erica Reyes hadn’t made the table any more normal. Occasionally Jen Blake (not Jenny Blake and not just Jen) would stop by but really only to suck Derek’s face for a minute.The thing about their table was that even though at outsider would think it was the biggest group of misfits (they would have been right) but they just kind of_ **_fit_ ** _together in a way that no one could explain._

_“No, I swear to sweet baby Jesus if you try to tell me that Captain America would beat_ **_the Hulk_ ** _in a fight I will end your life.” Stiles said one lunch period during the first semester of senior year._

_Derek just smirked and Erica extracted herself from her conversation with Lydia and Allison long enough to say, “He just likes getting you riled up Stilinski, don’t listen to him.”Derek’s smirk fell slightly but not totally and his cheeks turned slightly pink._

_“Ironman would kick Batman’s ass.” He said and grinned as Stiles nearly choked on his chocolate milk._

_“YOU TAKE THAT BACK HALE.” He practically yelled at him across the table, sputtering and trying to catch his breath._

_Jen Blake took that moment to come over to the table, run her fingers through Derek’s dark brown hair and kiss him.Stiles turned away and started chatting with Boyd. Maybe chatting with was an exaggeration, chatting at would be a more accurate term.Boyd looked at him sympathetically and took a bite of his apple._

 

 

 

**May 16 2015**

Stiles awoke the next morning with a pounding headache and burning eyes.He stumbled to the bathroom where he knew his pee would burn with dehydration and when he was finished he chugged a PowerAid and took three aspirin.Scott and Kira were already in the kitchen eating breakfast when he sat down at the breakfast bar. “Thanks for finding me last night,” Stiles croaked out, his head in his arms.His throat burned like he had smoked a pack of cigarettes the night before, he probably had. 

“What happened dude,” Scott asked, his voice kind, “All you would say was that you hurt him and that it was all your fault.”

“Because I did and it is.” Stiles said and he drank the glass of water Kira handed him, her eyes wide.Scott had met her freshman year at a coffee shop, she went to Fordham and he went to NYU. “He’s moving back to Beacon Hills when his lease is up on the 31st, he’s ready to ‘go home and start his life’ but I’m not ready, I’m only 22, I’m not ready.”He broke down, his eyes welling with tears again.

 

**October 29 2010**

_Stiles found Derek after his first basketball game, everyone else had long since gone home, but he hadn’t seen Derek leave.He went into the locker room and found him with his head in his hands, “What’s up dude, everyone else left.”_

_Derek looked up and Stiles heart nearly stopped, his kaleidoscope eyes were rimmed red and there were dried tear tracks on his face.“Jen’s been cheating on me, she dumped me.”_

_“Man, wow,” Stile said, not knowing what else to say.He put his arm around Derek and held him._

_“I can’t believe this is happening to me again,” Derek said after a few minutes._

_“She cheated on you before?” Stiles asked, wondering how he hadn’t heard about that, Derek was a popular dude and Jen Blake was too, any news about them would be huge._

_“No, but the whole schools going to be talking about it next week, I know they will, I thought that after everything with Kate - Miss Argent - that I would be able to keep my name out of the gossip.” He said quietly.Stiles had never heard Derek talk about the thing with Miss Argent before._

_“Trust me on this, it’ll blow over, when Jackson dumped Lydia people only talked about it for like a week.” Stiles said.That had been a disaster, but Lydia had become so much stronger for it.She was scary before, but now she was straight up terrifying, she got a perfect score on her SAT and made some guy who told Allison she was ‘just a girl’ and couldn’t keep up with him cry._

_“Because the next week Lydia was hooking up with Aidan and that was the week the serial killer escaped from prison.” Derek reminded him._

_“So you just need some bigger gossip to come through,” Stiles said cheerfully._

_“Like that’ll happen.” Derek said quietly.“I’m not even mad she dumped me, I mean it hurts, but mostly that she cheated on me and it’s going to get around to everyone.I just wanted to be normal.  I just want to trust someone and not have them betray me.”_

 

**May 17 2015**

“So you didn’t want the same things,” Scott said, his hand on Stiles’ shoulder as he cried, “That’s a really valid reason to break up with someone.”

“He asked me to come with him, said he wants to make his life with me,” Stiles groaned out, “But we’re only 22, we’ve been dating since we were like 17, that’s not normal, you don’t usually marry your high school sweetheart.”

“Dude, you don’t have to defend it to me, I’m on your side, I get it.” Scott said quietly, “You don’t always meet the love of your life when you’re that young, if you’re paths aren’t lining up then they aren’t lining up, you can’t force it.”

There was a soft knock at the door and Kira pulled it open, Lydia Martin stood on the other side, her long strawberry blonde hair tied in a knot on her head, her Beacon Hills Lacrosse sweatshirt hung loosely on her small frame.“Isaac called me.” Was all she said as she walked into the apartment and rested her head on Stiles’ back.“How are you holding up?”

“How do you think,” Stiles said, his voice muffled in his arms but she heard him. “Shouldn’t you be with Derek, he’s the dumpee, he’s the one who needs everyone right now, why are you guys being nice to me?”

“Because you’re my best friend and just because he’s also my good friend doesn’t mean I have to take sides,” Lydia snapped at him and he looked up at her.She looked like she hadn’t slept much.“Plus, he had Isaac and Erica over there with him, you need me more.”

“I broke his heart.” Stiles said as Lydia held his face in her hands, using one perfectly manicured thumb to wipe away a tear that fell from his eye. 

“Sweetie,” Lydia said softly, “I think you broke yours too.” 

 

**November 1 2010**

 

_“Did you hear, Jen Blake totally cheated on Derek Hale, with his teammate Ennis Muda.”The rumors were flying that Monday at school.Derek had his head in his locker, trying to block them out.He wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out._

_“Hey big guy,” Stiles said, slapping Derek on the shoulder and pulling him out of the locker.“Chin up, don’t let the muggles get you down.”_

_Derek cracked a small smile at that, he and Stiles had bonded over their love of comic books, Harry Potter, Star Wars and Doctor Who.“Today’s going to suck.” He said as they walked toward their first class, they both had AP U.S. Government first period._

_“I wouldn’t be so sure, there’s bound to be some hot gossip besides you.” Stiles said with a mischievous grin.They walked passed Jen Blake, who was, in fact, making out with Ennis.Derek scowled, “If you leave your face like that for too long it’ll stay that way.”_

_“Who told you that? It’s not true” Derek said with a small laugh._

_“My mom, and you can’t speak ill of the dead Derek.” Stiles said with a grin and he pulled Derek into class.They settled into their usual seats near Lydia and Scott, Derek trying to forget the whispers he kept hearing._

_By the time lunch rolled around, he wasn’t feeling any better. “I could really go for an escaped serial killer right now,” he muttered to Isaac as they waited for the rest of their lunch group.Erica and Scott didn’t eat with them because they had lunch next period, but the rest of the group was the same. Lydia came strutting in with Danny, Jackson had transferred to Devenford Prep at the start of senior year._

_“Where’s Stiles?” Allison asked as she sat down across from Boyd, everyone shrugged. “He’s not one to miss lunch,” She mused as she took a bite of her mac n cheese._

_As if on cue Stiles strode into the cafeteria, something draped around his shoulders.He climbed up onto a table near the back of the room and said, “Can I have everyones attention, please?”His voice was loud and the room grew quiet.“I have an announcement.”Derek could see his smirk from their table, “I Stiles Stilinski am Gay with a capitol G.I love penis, I like men,I very much enjoy butt sex.You heard it here first.”_

_He jumped off the table and walked over to his usual stop, the thing tied around his shoulders was a rainbow flag.“Told you there would be some hot gossip.” Stiles said with a grin as he snagged a fry of Danny’s trey._

_“Dude, you’re gay?” Isaac asked, his face in awe, “Is that why you turned Heather down when she asked you to have sex with her last year?”_

_Stiles gave him a look that clearly said ‘duh’ and then Danny gave Stiles is 1000 watt smile and said, “So this was how you decided to do it? I though you said you were going to just tell who mattered and everyone else could suck it.”_

_“I mean they still can,” Stiles said with a wink, “But I figured school was getting to be boring and we could all use something to talk about.”_

_Derek stared at Stiles like he had never seen him before. “Thank you,” He said quietly once everyone else had returned to their regularly scheduled conversation._

_“No big deal my man,” Stiles said back and he reached over to squeeze Derek’s hand.He knew that it was a big deal._

 

**May 30 2015**

“You’ve got to see him before he goes,” Isaac whined to Stiles.They were sitting in Stiles’ living room, a box of Derek’s things on the floor between them, “I can’t just take him this stuff and say, ‘here, the guy you thought you’d spend the rest of your life with sends his regards.’”

Stiles winced at the comment, “I don’t think I can see him.” He was being honest, it would hurt too much, he wasn’t ready to face him . 

“I t might make you both feel better?” Isaac said helpfully, “When me and Allison broke up we got together a couple weeks after and just kind of explained why.”

“He knows why.” Stiles said darkly.He didn’t say it out loud, but he figured Derek knew that it was because Stiles was a selfish bastard who wasn’t ready to spend the rest of his life in Beacon Hills, he wanted to see the world, do some shit with his life. 

“I don’t think he does.” Isaac said, “Just, he’s at the apartment packing, go over and say goodbye.”

Scott and Kira walked in a minute later and Stiles said, “I’m going out,” grabbing the box he left the apartment and walked the three blocks to Derek and Isaacs place. He hit the buzzer, not wanting to use his key, “Hey, uh it’s me, can I come up?”

The door buzzed open and he walked up the three flights of stairs to their apartment.The door was open and he headed in, the place was almost empty, most of Isaac’s stuff was already in Stiles’ room because Stiles was moving, well not moving, but he was going places.“Hey.” 

“Hey,” Derek said looking at him with eyes that looked more broken than Stiles had ever seen them.  

“I, I uh brought your stuff over.” Stiles said as he set the box on the counter and looked at Derek, “And I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for.” Derek said quietly, “We want different things at this point in our lives, I get it.It hurts like hell, but I get it, it’s better this way.”

“Don’t be a martyr Derek.” Stiles said moving a little closer to the other man, he looked like he hadn’t shaved since the breakup, “I’m a selfish bastard and you should hate me .”

“I cou ld never hate you.” Derek said easily, it was the truth.  “I really get it.  If you came back to Beacon Hills right now you’d be miserable, then I’d be miserable and you’d resent me for making you come back.  If you left to travel the world and we stayed together, I’d be miserable and you’d feel bad and I’d resent you for not staying.  At least this way, maybe we can be friends one day.”

“Yeah,” Stiles muttered, “I hope so.” He paused and added, “I never deserved you.You really should hate me.Um, good luck back in California.”

“Stiles,” Derek said quickly before pulling him in for a hug, it felt safe and warm, but awkward at the same time, “I’ll probably always love you and I’ll probably be in Beacon Hills whenever you get back from finding yourself, look me up when you back.”

“I’ll always love you too,” Stiles said softly, hating himself more than ever.“You deserve someone who can be there with you always.”With that, he squeezed Derek’s hand and left the apartment.  

 

**January 4 2011**

_“You know I’m bi?” Derek asked Stiles as they boy laid on Derek’s living room floor working on an assignment for their AP English class._

_“Are you?” Stiles said without looking up from the book he was reading, “That was an anticlimactic coming out Derek, you were supposed to try to top me.”He winked at Derek who felt his cheeks turn red._

_“I don’t think anyone could top you.” Derek said with a sly grin, “You’re on top of everyone with that coming out story.”_

_“Hmm I do enjoy being on top,” Stiles mused, rolling onto his side and resting his head on his hand.“What about Der, do you think you’d like being on top?”_

_“You know how I figured out I was bi?” Derek asked, changing the subject before he lost is nerve.Stiles shook his head no and Derek continued, “Where was this annoying kid at my lunch table who I loved to tease and one day Erica told me to stop pulling his figurative pigtails and kiss him already since she could cut the sexual tension with a knife.I went home and jacked off to him in the shower.”_

_“Did you ever kiss him and get rid of that tension?” Stiles asked, his eyes gleaming as he tried to hide his smile._

_“I’m hoping to,” Derek said, leaning forward, almost touching Stiles face, but not quiet, leaving that last few centimeters for the other boy to close the gap._

_Stiles did, kissing Derek gently on the lips before pulling back and grinning and then diving back in, pulling Derek on top of him as their tongue’s danced together.“You’re alright at that but, dude, I’m gonna have stubble burn, you’re supposed to be 17 not 24.”_

_Derek laughed into Stiles’ neck and for the first time in a long time he felt content.“I’ll keep that in mind.” Then they were kissing again, until they were both out of breath and their lips swollen.“I could get used to this.”_

 

**June 2 2015**

Stiles hadn’t expected to find a job so quickly after graduating from college, not that he was complaining at all, it was just kind of surprising when his favorite professor had come up to him midway through his last semester and told him that she thought she had a job he would be perfect for.Turns out she was right, Stiles was really excited to be a travel photojournalist for the immensely popular _Wild Life_ magazine.

_Wild Life_ ’s main focus was on young people who traveled and lived well, wild, unexpected lives.It was a huge honor to be offered a job with them and honestly, it was exactly why he had gone to school for journalism. “I’m going to miss you so much dude,” Scott said as he hugged Stiles outside of JFK.

“It’s just six months, I’ll be back before you know it.” Stiles said as he hugged Scott, then Lydia, then Kira, then Isaac, then Scott again. “Just don’t let Isaac ruin my room with his sex life.”

Isaac flicked him and they both laughed, “Have fun in France, be sure to see Allie while you’re there!” Lydia said with a smile as Stiles hoisted his backpack onto his shoulders and slung his camera back around them after. 

Stiles waved as he made it to security and then they were gone.This was what Stiles had always hoped for in life, adventure and seeing the world.He would have a partner that he traveled with, a girl named Milia Tate, who was supposed to be on the flight with him.He was ready to go, to see the world, to try to fill the aching hole in his chest where Derek was supposed to be, but where he couldn’t be if he wanted to see the world before he found his home somewhere. 

 


	2. The Middle. Begin Again.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles comes home after five years away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love all the feedback I'm getting! 
> 
> If anyone is interested in being a beta for the last chapter please let me know!

**August 4 2020**  

“Dude!” Scott said excitedly as Stiles face popped up on his Iphone 8S “Where are you now?”

“Just outside Rio,” Stiles said with a wide grin as he flipped the camera around to show Scott where he was standing, “It’s sick here.I’ve got so much great material.”

“Yeah, my mom won’t stop talking about your book man,” Scott said with a laugh as Stiles sat down on a stone wall, his backpack at his feet and his camera slung around his shoulder, hanging on his hip.“But you’re still coming to Beacon Hills for the wedding, right?”

“I told you I would not miss that shit for the world Scotty, my brother’s getting married!” Stiles said with a whoop. “Plus two weeks after your wedding you become my real brother and I wouldn’t miss that either, it’ll be like a vacation for me.”  
“Your whole life is a vacation.” Scott said with a laugh. 

“That’s kinda true.” Stiles said grinning “Don’t forget to pick me up from the airport next week, it’s not like in New York, where I could take the subway when you forgot about me.”

“I didn’t forget about you, I just got distracted by sex.” Scott said, laughing and then he added, “Kira wants to say hi!”  

The phone shifted and Stiles was looking at Kira instead of his puppy eyed best friend. “Hi Stiles!” She said smiling widely, “We’re all so excited to see you, it’s been almost a year.”

“Well, you guys went and moved out of New York so I couldn’t even see you when I was home to get assignments and rest up.” Stiles said with a laugh.  

“Are you going to be okay at the wedding?” Kira asked him, he heard Scott close the door which made Stiles think he had left the room so Kira could ask him.

“Yeah, I mean I haven’t been back since Christmas 2014 but I’ll be fine, it’ll be great.” Stiles said and it was mostly true, he was going to be fine being back in Beacon Hills, he might even be ready to live back in the States again, he wasn’t 22 anymore, sleeping on couches and in hostels was getting kind of old. “I think he’s moved on and so have I, I’ll be okay.”

Kira looked sadly at Stiles for a minute, “And you’re sure you’re okay that he’s in the wedding party?”

“Yes,” He said, he had answered this question too many times to count now, even from Derek himself, “We’re, friendly.Every so often I’ll see something that reminds me of him and I’ll text him about it and he does the same.I think seeing him will be really great actually.But different subject, how’s the planning, everything almost done?”

She started talking about the flowers and bridesmaid dresses and Stiles sort of zoned out, watching the sun set over the city of Rio De Janeiro.“Kir, I gotta go.” He said suddenly as he grabbed his bag and put it on, “I’ll see you next week!”

 

**November 8 2015**

_“Stiles come on, we have to climb at least part of the Alps, we’re here already,” Malia said with a frown on her face.She and Stiles got along great and he was glad to not be totally alone, but sometimes she was a lot to handle. She had grown up in a very outdoorsy, extreme sports family and he wasn’t totally on her level._

_“Okay, fine, just, just a little bit of climbing.”Stiles said, knowing full well they’d be out here for hours._

_In the five months they had been traveling together Stiles had gained some serious recognition in the journalism field for the way he threw himself entirely into what he was doing, he was never the center of the stories he wrote about traveling but he had his finger on the pulse of the culture.He knew that climbing the mountain would help him find the pulse of this area in France._

_Later that night, when Malia was snoring softly on the couch, Stiles sat in Allison Argent’s bed, “We all miss you,” Stiles said with a small smile, “But I get why you left and why you stayed away.”_

_“It feels like home here,” Allison said, leaning her head on Stiles’ shoulder, “But it feels even more like home with you here.”They were quiet for a minute, then she said, “So are you ever going to tell me about it?”_

_“I’m sure you’ve heard most of it from Lydia and Erica,” Stiles said honestly, “It’s not really much of a story to tell.”_

_“Tell me anyways,” She said, shifting so that she could get under the covers.Stiles joined her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder._

_“I guess we just never talked about what would happen after graduations and we both assumed wrong.We were grabbing dinner and he said something to the effect of ‘when we’re back in Beacon Hills you should move in with me’ and I was like when am I going back to Beacon Hills and he was like after you’re six months of travel you’re coming back right? And the answer was no and I just couldn’t get stuck there, not before I saw the world, not before I figured myself out.” Stiles said in a rush._

_“So you’re not going back?” Allie asked him as she tucked her toes under his feet._

_“I already got a contract extension offer, I’m signed through June of 2016 now and if I had told him I was coming back I couldn’t do that and I’d be holding back, I need to figure out who I am without him, even if that means losing him forever.” Stiles explained, his heart hurt as he said it but less so than if had the last time he had explained it._

_“I get that,” She said smiling at him, “You have to sow your wild oats before you can consider where you’ll end up spending the rest of your life, or who you’ll spend it with.It’s just weird for all of us to think about because we all knew, I think before either of you guys did, that you would be great together and then you_ **_were_ ** _great together and now it’s kind of like love isn’t real if it can’t be real for StilesandDerek.”_

_“Hold pressure Batman,” Stiles said with a laugh, “But love is real.I’ll probably always love him and I know that when I go back to Beacon Hills, because it’s where I want to end up in like 5 or 10 years or whenever I’m ready, I know he’ll be there and I hope he found someone who was ready to be loved by him and be with him 100% because I just wasn’t ready, I’m still not.”_

 

**August 11 2020**

 

****Everything that Stiles owns fits into his backpack, he travels light so that he can get around quickly and easily, it works for him, but now that he’s standing in the San Francisco airport, standing on U.S. soil for the first time in nearly 2 years, it feels a little weird knowing that all he owns in the world is on his back.

The last time that he had seen Scott and the gang had been on an epic trip to Japan.Kira’s parents were going to see her grandparents, Scott had been invited along and somehow Lydia and Danny had tagged along too.The last time he had been in Beacon Hills was nearly 6 years prior.“Stiles!” a voice called behind him and he turned to see his best friend running toward him at full speed. 

“Hey buddy!” Stiles said, grinning at Scott as they broke apart, “Where’s Kira?”

“She’s in the car, the traffic cop yelled at me for parking so she’s circling around until we come out,” Scott explained as they walked toward the exit.“You look great man, really rugged mountain man.”

Stiles laughed and stroked his beard, “Yeah, I haven’t really had the chance to shave in like, 2 months.” 

“It looks good on you,” Scott assured him as he spotted his car and lead Stiles toward it, “Everyone is excited to see you, think you’re up for a couple reunion drinks or do you want to just hit the hay.”

“I’m totally wired, I slept the entire flight from Rio to L.A. and half the flight from L.A. to here.” Stiles said with a shrug, “Plus, I haven’t seen Erica, Isaac or Boyd in forever.”

“Mind if Derek comes?” Scott asked as he tossed Stiles’ bag in the trunk.

“Not at all man, it’ll be good to see him,” Stiles said honestly as he hugged Kira who was squealing into his ear.“Just warn me if I should expect a full party or just drinks.”

“Just drinks man,” Scott said with a lopsided grin as they took off toward Beacon Hills.

They pulled up in front of The Beacon, a local bar that they had frequented during school breaks in college. “Man, this place has not changed,” Stiles said with a grin.He pulled off his flannel and white v-neck in the parking lot and replaced them with a plain black v-neck shirt that smelled less like airplane and sweat. 

“Dude!” Scott said excitedly grabbing Stiles arm, “When did you get these?”

Stiles arms were like a map of the world, he had different bits of art and culture from everywhere he had been woven seamlessly together on his right arm, his left was still blank, he was saving it for whatever was to come.“This one is better,” Stiles said, taking the shirt off again and showing Scott and Kira the tattoo on his back, this was literally a map of the world, outlined in black, the countries he had been to were filled in with a watercolor blue ink.  

“That’s so cool,” Scott said, “When did you get it?”

“Couple years ago, just get it filled in whenever I go somewhere new.” Stiles said, grinning as he pulled his shirt back on.

“You’ve been back for all of five minutes and you’re already stripping in the parking lot, get it together Stilinski,” Lydia said as she ran up and hugged him tightly.“We miss you, it’s good to see you back in California.” 

They headed inside and Stiles was greeted with the familiar sights and sounds of his best friends, Isaac was chatting animatedly with Malia (who had met the gang after their year abroad and had ended up staying in New York), Boyd was sipping his beer stoically while Erica talked to the bartender, Cora Hale, Derek’s younger sister.“Makes me wish Allie was here,” Stiles said with a sad smile as he sat down.

“Yeah, it’s really too bad she couldn’t make it,” A voice said behind him and he jumped up, sweeping Allison into a huge hug.

“You could have told me you were coming!” Stiles said accusingly as everyone looked at him with fond smiles, “It’s not everyday we have everyone back in the same place, in fact I can’t remember the last time we were all together.”

“Christmas break 2013,” A familiar voice said from the other side of the bar.Derek came into view and Stiles felt his stomach flip.“Hey Stiles, long time no see.”

 

**June 12 2017**  

****_Stiles woke up on a train bound for Italy, his face smashed up against the glass of the window; the train was quiet as they rolled through the European countryside.He was traveling alone for the first time.He had quit the magazine after getting offered a book deal and enough sponsors on his blog to pay his way, it was nice, but a little lonely, sometimes he missed the way that Malia pushed his comfort zone and tried to wing man for him._

_Even less often he missed his latest travel partner, a guy who soft brown eyes and caramel skin who spoke of nothing but adventure and never of a home.He was like fire caused by lighter fluid, burning bright for a few moments and then fading to nothingness.He was the opposite of Derek and everything Stiles had needed in those months._

_There had been a night while they were snowed in up in Oslo that things had gone from flirty to something more between them, it was urgent and felt like Christoph himself, like a fire that would burn out too quickly.He wasn’t Stiles first since Derek but he was the first that Stiles stuck around for the next morning.He wasn’t someone who could light up a room with his smile, whose eyes changed color with his mood, but he was something more preeminent than a Spanish fisherman or an English University student._

_If Christoph had taught him anything about himself it was that when this was all said and done, when he was ready to be still, he knew exactly where that would be, Beacon Hills, California.He also knew that there was only one person who would ever be right for him and if he was single when he found him next he would make every effort to make it right between them._

 

**August 11-12 2020**

 

Scott was a man true to his word and it was not a party at the bar.They each had a couple beers and caught up but everyone was exhausted and Scott dropped Stiles off at his dad’s house around 9 PM.After reunion with his dad Stiles climbed the stairs to his childhood bedroom and fell face first onto the mattress, excited to sleep on a real bed for more than a day or two for the first time in a long time. 

Stepping out of the shower, Stiles looked at himself in the mirror and laughed, his beard really was out of control.He grabbed his dad’s electric razor and shaved it off, revealing his slightly older but still youthful looking face.He toweled his hair dry and tossed his dirty clothes into the hamper by his bedroom door. 

The next morning Stiles woke to the sound of birds outside the window and he rolled off the bed to take a shower.He let the hot spray of water wash over him as he just stood there, it had been months since he had taken a shower without worrying that someone else was going to wander into the bathroom, it was a nice change of pace.

Last night had been nice, but a little weird.Derek and he had talked for maybe 5 minutes, but everyone seemed to constantly butt in, they were probably making sure that both of them were doing okay with seeing each other for the first time in years but honestly Stiles just wanted to sit down and talk to him alone. 

He found a pair of dark jeans in his bag and another v-neck, this one charcoal gray.He didn’t want to wear his hiking boots so he found a pair of black Ked’s in his closet and pulled them on, they still fit like a glove. There was a note on the fridge “I didn’t want to wake you, but I got called into the station a few hours early, there’s not much in the fridge.See you at dinner kid, love, Dad.”Next to the note a set of key’s was stuck up to the fridge and a grin broke across Stiles’ face.

The Jeep looked exactly like it had 6 years prior and when he sat down behind the wheel he couldn’t help but fist pump just a little bit. It was a Thursday, so Scott would be working, as would Kira, who was a teacher, Lydia, who was a researcher, Isaac, who owned a bookstore in town, Erica, who was a boss ass lawyer, and Boyd who was now the manager of the ice rink.He hadn’t gotten the chance to see if Derek was working, but Stiles didn’t mind being alone, it was actually something he was good at.

He pulled into the coffee shop near the station and got himself a double shot of espresso  and sat down near the front windows where he could people watch.He had his laptop out and was working on his next book when a familiar voice spoke behind him, “I honestly wasn’t sure you were real last night, I thought you’d disappear when the sun came up.”

Stiles turned around and saw Derek standing behind him wearing a fitted button down and grey dress pants.Stiles had forgotten how good he looked in anything, but especially in dress clothes. “Still here, I’m not going anywhere for a while.”

Derek smiled at him, the small smile that he used to wear just for him.“You look good, much better without that mountain man beard.” Derek laughed as he took a step closer to Stiles, looking at the laptop screen.“Another book?”

“Yeah, I mean  Wild Oats did so well that the publishing company asked me for another one.” Stiles explained with a shrug.His first book  Wild Oats had been a monster success, staying on the New York Times Best Seller list for almost a year.He had started and finished it in about three weeks.It was about his travels, his life, why he had left in the first place.It reads very similarly to his blog, _Wild Things_ that had started about just travel and soon became about his life and feelings in general. 

“That’s good for you,” Derek said with the small smile again, “Although now that you’re back here for a bit you might run out of material.”

“Nah,” Stiles said with a grin this time, “If I’ve learned anything over the last five years, it’s that once you learn how to have an adventure you don’t have to go far to get one.Shouldn’t you be at work mister?”

“Lunch break,” Derek said, holding up his cup of coffee, “Plus, when your mom’s the boss and you’re second in command you kind of make your own hours.” The Hale’s had long since owned and operated a development company out of Beacon Hills and that was what Derek had come back for.

“Look how fancy you are with your dress pants and corner office,” Stiles said, wanting to give Derek a little shove, but holding himself back. 

“Yeah, but I should get back to work though,” Derek said, he squeezed Stiles’ shoulder before walking out, leaving Stiles with butterflies in his stomach and new inspiration for his writing.He minimized the word document that he was working on and started a new blog post.

**March 19 2018**

_Stiles had missed New York mostly because he missed his friends so when he landed at JFK and was greeted by Lydia Martin, genius and all around perfect human, he dropped his bag and she ran at him.“I miss you.” She whispered in his ear, her long hair dancing behind her as he swung her around.Once he set her down, she held his face in her small hands and said, “Let me look at you, it’s been too damn long Stilinski.”_

_The laugh that left his chest was the first real laugh, he had felt in a long time, “Where’s my welcoming committee, I thought Scott and Kira were going to be here.”_

_Lydia smirked, “I think they’re busy at the moment.”_

_“That is a vision I did not need in my head Lydia, I need to burn my brain now.” Stiles said with a laugh as they made their way toward the line of cabs._

_“I still can’t believe that you’re going to be on Jimmy Fallon to promote your book.I can’t believe you actually wrote an entire book.” Lydia said as the cab drove them toward Scott and Kira’s apartment._

_“You and me both,” Stiles said with a grin, “I just sat down to write a blog post one day and then three weeks later I had 250ish pages about traveling and growing up and life.”_

_“I can tell who the inspiration for it is,” Lydia said, her voice a little too innocent for Stiles liking._

_“Let’s not go there,” Stiles said, “Let’s talk about you, anything new an exciting going on with PhD candidate Lydia Martin?”_

_“I’m basically running the department at Columbia as an adjunct which is just sad.” Lydia said. but Stiles could tell she wasn’t done with the previous conversation yet, “I think that when I finish up I’m going to head back to California, I’m getting sick of New York Winters.”_

**August 14 2020**

“Stiles you know that you should just own a suit at this point in your life,” Erica said as she stood at the tailor with Stiles while he got his two new suits tailored.“You’re 27 years old, you’re an _adult_.”

“I deferred adulthood until like two years ago, so I’m really only like 24.” Stiles said with a wry grin, “Plus where would I have put a suit, I’ve been living out of a backpack for the past five years.”

She rolled her eyes and Stiles was allowed to put his jeans back on.“So how long are you staying?” Erica asked as they walked out to his Jeep.She climbed into the passenger seat and started fiddling with the radio.

“I haven’t really got that far, at least through my dad and Melissa’s wedding, but probably longer, maybe indefinitely.” He shrugged as he drove toward Erica’s apartment that she shared with her long term boyfriend, some guy Stiles had yet to meet. 

“If you hurt him again, I’m not sure he’ll be able to cope.” Erica said candidly. “I know you were both a mess when you left, but he’s finally starting to get better, we set him up on a couple dates and everything,” she saw Stiles face contort, “Don’t worry, none of them have lasted more than a month, we’re all still convinced that you two are soul mates.” 

“If I ever have the chance to get him back, trust me, I won’t hurt him.” Stiles said, his voice earnest.“I won’t say ending it was a mistake, it was the right thing at the time for me and I think for him but I’m done running all over the world trying to find myself.”

“You’re different now,” Erica mused as he pulled into her buildings parking lot, “Like how you used to be before Senior year of college when you freaked out about needing to see the world and needing to find who you are, you’re you again.”She got out of the car and closed the door behind her, waving over her shoulder. 

Stiles shook his head before he drove toward the coffee shop again, he was nearly finished with final edits on his book but he wanted to write a different ending.He pulled out his laptop when he got there and sat in what he called his usual spot.The sun was setting by now and the shop was less busy that it had been yesterday.

“Are you sleeping here or something,” Derek said from behind him, “I’ve seen you here everyday.”

“It’s a nice place to work, I got used to having to find cafes to get my hands on wifi when I was traveling.” Stiles said with a shrug, he kicked the chair out that was next to him and nodded at it so Derek would know he could sit down.

He did sit and leaned forward, his forearms on his knees as he leaned toward Stiles.“How’s the book coming along?” He sounded genuinely curious, his multicolored eyes green in the light of the coffee shop. 

“It’s almost done, I’m just adding an afterward and then it’ll get sent off to print.I might have to do another book tour, but I’m thinking about getting a place.” Stile said, needing Derek to know that he wasn’t leaving this time, that he was staying, that he was going to be here when and if Derek would ever want him back.

“Here?” Derek asked, sounding a little surprised.

“Yep, I think my wild oats have been sown, I’m ready to come home.” Stiles explained.He didn’t tell Derek that the title of his new book was  Coming Home. Until he had stepped into the bar on the first night he hadn't realized that was what he was doing, he was coming home. 

“So should I still look you up now that I’m back?” Stiles asked, a little shy but mostly flirty.“Since, you know, I’m back for good except maybe a book tour.”

Derek stood up and grinned at Stiles, the same grin he had on his face the night he came out to Stiles and they had their first kiss. “Yeah, you should.”

 

**March 22 2018**

_“Tonight we have travel writer, blogger and now New York Times best selling author Stiles Stilinski on the show.”Jimmy said as Stiles walked out onto the stage.The crowd was clapping and screaming, Stiles smiled his mischievous grin.“Welcome Stiles!”_

_“Thanks for having me Jimmy, this is all so surreal for me.” Stiles said still grinning.He was wearing his now trademark dark jeans and v-neck, a look he may have stolen from an ex-boyfriend, and his publisher had made him put on a blazer. “I never thought I’d be on TV or the NYT list.”_

_“Well I read your book and it’s great, it really speaks to the wanderers out there and the people who love them as well.” Jimmy said, holding up the book for the audience to see.“So you say at the beginning of the book that you changed some names because you don’t want them getting attention, can you tell me who’s names?”_

_“Oh, you know I can’t do that,” Stiles said, smirking, “It’s strictly confidential, if I told you, I’d have to kill you.”_

_“We don’t want that.” Jimmy said, holding his hands up in defeat, “But can I ask about David, the guy you left.”_

_“You can ask, I might not answer,” Stiles said with another grin and he tilted his head toward Jimmy, waiting for the question._

_“So you broke up with him because you needed to go sow your wild oats, hey is that where you got the title,” The both laughed and Jimmy continued, “But you always talk about him, about how things remind you of him, you never really get into another relationship and it’s been almost three years, so why end it?”_

_“Well, Jimmy, David put it best when he said if I stayed I’d resent him and we’d be miserable and if I left he’d resent me and we’d be miserable, the timing just wasn’t right.I still love him, hell, I’m still in love with him and if seeing all the most beautiful places in the world doesn’t change that I don’t think anything will.”_

_“So are you going back home to get him back then?” Jimmy asked, fishing for some good lines for the promo probably._

_“Not yet,” Stiles said, “I want to make sure I got all my wandering out before I go back because I already broke a promise to myself to never hurt him, I don’t do it again.”_

_“We have to go to commercial, but we’ll be right back with Stiles Stilinski, author of_ Wild Oats _._

 

**August** **16 2020**

 

“I mean shit look at how beautiful Kira looks tonight, she might be the only girl in the world that’s too good for my brother Scotty, but I’m so glad they found each other.” Stiles spoke into a microphone at the head table, his glass of champagne was in his other hand.“They found each other at a coffee shop in New York City, Scott came home every day for a week talking about this girl and how he was too scared to talk to her and how she was so pretty and when she laughed his stomach flipped so the next day I went with him and introduced them like a good best friend.”

“I didn’t realize that day that I would be standing here at their wedding but I’m sure glad that I am, they’re just about as perfect for each other as it’s possible to be.They’ve been my best friends through a lot, through me leaving for five years to see the world and find myself and they’ve welcomed me back home with open arms.”

“I’m honored to be in the presence of such a powerful love, I only hope that one day I’ll have that again, because if I ever do, if I’m ever lucky enough to have the right guy, the prefect guy, in my arms again, you can bet I won’t let him go.”Stiles said with a quick glance at Derek who was looking at him with wide eyes and a slack jaw, “To Scott and Kira, who found each other at the right time and never let go.”

 


	3. Finally

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. The reaction to this story has been so amazing. Thank you so much for reading!
> 
>  
> 
> \- Edited 11/17/15 to fix some grammar and make some working clearer.

**December 23 2015**

 

_“Derek, stop moping.” Erica said, she was sitting on Derek’s shitting couch in Derek’s new apartment in Beacon Hills, “It’s been over six months, we all miss him but you’ve gotta move on man.”_

_Derek shot her a look, “We dated for four and a half years, excuse me if I’m not over it already.Stiles Stilinski isn’t someone you just get over.” He’s someone who works his way under your skin, into your bones when you least expect it and when he’s gone he’s someone you miss so much it hurts, like a part of yourself is missing._

_“Allison saw him last month, he was in France.” Erica said, “Said he seemed good, but kind of quieter then the Stiles we all knew and loved.”_

_“I know, I read his article.” Derek admitted quietly, “He’s really talented, he got offered an extension.”_

_Erica gave him a look that was too close to pity for him to like and said, “You shouldn’t read them, they’ll just make you sad.”_

_“I’d rather be sad and know he’s doing what he planned on doing then sad and in the dark.” Derek said, Erica gave him another look.Sometimes Derek was so much like Scott when it came to love that it was disgusting, “I know you guys don’t agree with me but I know he’s coming back one day and as long as he hasn’t moved on I’d take him back.”_

_“You say that now but are you really willing to wait for him like that,” She asked, already knowing the answer.This was DerekandStiles, everyone thought they’d be the ones to make it so it was understandable that he was holding on so tightly._

_“Yeah, I think I am.”_

 

 

**August 17 2015**

 

“I have this idea that I can’t get out of my head,” Stiles said as soon as Derek opened the door.Stiles was still wearing his suit from the wedding, his tie loose around his neck, his hair disheveled.

“Did you sleep at all last night?” Derek asked, he was wearing sweatpants and a wife beater tank top, he still had sleep in the corner of his eyes and his hair was flat on one side.

“No not a lick,” Stile said, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I missed you.I have this idea.I’m going to tell you before I lose my nerve.”Derek nodded and Stiles swallowed and continued, “I’d like us to be friends again, because I’m still totally in love with you but I know you might not be anymore and because even if you are I want to do this right.So will you be my friend?”

“God, you’re still an idiot.” Derek said stepping forward and putting his hands on Stiles’ shoulder, “We were always friends.”

“I want to do this right Der, I want to woo you all over again.” Stiles said sounding like his lack of sleep was finally catching up with him. “I’m going to take you out for coffee and you’re going to glower at me like you used to when I talked too much even though I know you loved it and I’m going to blush when you hold my hand. I want all of it, but this time I want it to be _right_.”

“Come in and crash on my couch and you can start wooing me once you’ve gotten some sleep,” Derek said leading Stiles inside, “How did you know where I lived anyway?”

“Scott.” Was all he said before he collapsed onto the couch and the last thing he remembered before drifting off to sleep was Derek’s lips on his forehead. 

 

**June 7 2016**

 

_Like most Monday’s Derek was running late, he hadn’t had time for breakfast and forgot his lunch at home so by noon he was in quiet a mood.“Derek, sweetie, for all our sakes go get some damn food.” He mother said from outside his office door not five minutes after he had accidentally made an intern cry._

_He grunted but stood up and walked out of the building, the only place walking distance that wasn’t fast food or the coffee shop was a little organic restaurant that he had tried a few times before.The menu was blue chalk on a board behind the register and he ordered a grilled chicken wrap and a green juice from the pretty girl behind the counter._

_“You’re Derek Hale, right?” She asked, her eyes were dark brown, like chocolate, her skin fair and she had one mole under her left eye._

_“Yeah.” He said a little confused, he had no idea who she was._

_“I’m Paige Lockhart, I was a couple years behind you at BHHS,” she explained with a warm smile, “How’ve you been since you left?”_

_“Uh, I’ve been alright,” Derek said, rubbing the back of his head slightly uncomfortably, “Moved back from New York City about a year ago, just been working for the family business ever since.”_

_“Have you seen Stiles since he left? I’ve been reading his stuff and he’s really talented, you guys were always cute together.” She said in a rush._

_“I haven’t see him, we actually broke up right before he left.” Derek said wishing he didn’t have to explain this to everyone he ran in to from high school. He had long since accepted the fact that Stiles wasn’t coming back any time soon and even if he was going to be in love with the guy forever he didn’t want to talk about him all the time, he was trying to have a life outside of that._

_“Oh, I’m sorry.” She said, and she really sounded it. “At the risk of making a total fool of myself, I had a huge crush on you in high school, would you want to grab coffee some time?”_

_Derek was quiet for a minute, it had been over a year and he knew that if Stiles ever came back and realized that Derek had spent this time away pining for him he’d never forgive Derek or himself and Derek wouldn’t forgive himself either, “Sure, coffee sounds great.”_

 

**August 17 2020**

 

Derek lay awake for nearly an hour after letting Stiles into his house, it had been 6 AM when the other man had shown up but Derek felt wired.Stiles had always been the type of person to stay up all night working on a project or just in a Wikipedia click hole, he knows from personal experience that once Stiles gets an idea in his head it’s nearly impossible to get out.  

He had spent the past five years both trying to get over Stiles and at the same time holding on to the hope that the other man would come home eventually.Derek never expected Stiles to sit around pining for him, just like he knew Stiles wouldn’t have wanted Derek to sit around pining for him.They had a deal with each other that if they were to find each other again, somewhere permanent, and they were both single they would try again.They had joked about it junior year of college that if they ever broke up they would probably still end up together.

Around 7:45 Derek gave up on sleeping and grabbed a book off his night stand, it was _Wild Oats_.He had put off buying it until the night that Stiles had appeared on Jimmy Fallon and then his curiosity had gotten the better of him. His copy was now well worn with dog eared pages that he liked to flip back to.He was ‘David’, he knew that from the interview and after Stiles had said he would always love ‘David’ he had to know what he had said.

Derek flipped to the end of the book, the afterward was his favorite. 

 

_Afterward - For David_

_Here I am, sitting at a little cafe in Greece and everywhere I look I see him, I see David.I see his technicolor eyes, his furrowed brow, his smile, but it’s never him, it’s never enough.I’ve spent the last three years on my own wild adventure, finding myself and it always come back to him.He’s in every sunset, every night sky.I can hear his voice judging my coffee order as clearly as if he had spoken into my ear._

_I can’t spend the night in bed with another man, I learned that.Sure I can fuck, let my body and instinct take over but as soon as it’s done and it’s not him laying there with me I have to leave.I’ve lost myself in so many cities, befriend so many people, met some people who will always be a part of me but no one has come close to him.I wish I could tell him that I’m ready to come back to him, that I’m ready to settle down and make a life, the life we always talked about, but I’m not ready yet._

_So this page is for David.It brings us right up to where I am today, the book is set to go to print as soon as I get my editor these pages.Here’s my hope for where you are today._

_I hope you’re with someone or that you’ve at least been with someone who makes you smile because the world needs to see your smile.I hope that you still think of my fondly because though I broke your heart you were my world for nearly five years and when I broke your heart I broke mine too.Selfishly I hope you’ve healed so that I can heal too._

_I don’t think he’ll read this but if you are reading this, David you know who you are.I want you to know one thing above all other things, I will always love you, I will probably always be madly in love with you.I’ve seen the Seven Wonders of the World but I’m convinced that you’re the eighth.One day I’ll come home and if you’ve found someone and you’re happy I will gracefully bow out of your life, I’ll live my life without regret because I have found myself around the world and while I did that you found happiness and that’s what truly matters in the end._

_But, if by some miracle you haven’t found someone, if you’re alone and you’ve forgiven me (though last we spoke you told me there was nothing I needed to be forgiven for) so maybe, if I’ve forgiven myself, if that’s the case, I am pleading with you here on this page, forever written in ink across hundreds, maybe thousands of books, that you give me the second chance that I in no way deserve._

_My pop culture references are a little rusty because I haven’t actually watched TV or read a new book in about three years so forgive me, but as we often jokingly said to each other and I say without jest now, “Moon of my life.My sun and stars.”I’ll be looking at the moon, but I’ll be seeing you._

 

_Thanks for reading.Go find your own adventure._

 

Derek closed the book and felt a small smile creep across his face.He had found others, he hadn’t walled himself away over the past five years, he had lived a life with no regrets.Looking back now at his life, he knew that if he had stayed with Stiles at 22 they would have been over for good by 24, both of them wondering what else was out there, but now he was 27 and he had seen it, Stiles had seen the world like he wanted to and yet here they both were.

 

**March 22 2018**

 

_“I still can’t believe Stiles is doing to be on late night TV,” Erica said as she sat on Boyd’s couch, her toes curled under Derek’s leg. “Like this is goofy ass Stiles Stilinski.I wonder if he’ll wear a graphic tee and a flannel.”_

_Derek grunted, he was nervous for Stiles’ interview, he hadn’t read the book yet but ever since it came out and his friends read it they’d been looking at him a little funny, even when he Skyped Isaac and Scott they seemed a little off, like they were sad about the breakup all over again.The TV changed from commercial to Jimmy Fallon’s face and Derek felt himself tense.It wasn’t like he hadn’t moved on, well he had at least dated other people, there was Paige, Marcus, and he had just broken up with Alex a few weeks ago._

_Boyd sat down on the other side of Erica and turned the volume up as Jimmy was saying, “Tonight we have travel writer, blogger and now New York Times best selling author Stiles Stilinski on the show.” Stiles strut out onto the stage.The crowd was clapping and screaming, Stiles smiled his mischievous grin that Derek hadn’t seen in years, his stomach flipped in the oh familiar way that he had forgotten he could feel.“Welcome Stiles!”_

_“Thanks for having me Jimmy, this is all so surreal for me.” Stiles said still grinning.He was wearing a pair of dark jeans and grey v-neck with a black blazer over it, sleeves rolled up to his elbow.He looked completely at ease. “I never thought I’d be on TV or the NYT bestseller list.”_

_“Well I head your book and it’s great, it really speaks to the wanderers out there and the people who love them as well.” Jimmy said.He flashed a copy of_ _Wild Oats_ _to the camera“So you say at the beginning of the book that you changed some names because you don’t want them getting attention, can you tell me who’s names?”_

_“Oh you know I can’t do that,” Stiles was smirking now, Derek could feel Erica and Boyd’s eyes on him, he would bet money that it was his name that was changed, “It’s strictly confidential, if I told you, I’d have to kill you.”_

_“We don’t want that.” Jimmy laughed and held his hands up in defeat, “But can I ask about David, the guy you left behind.”_

_“You can ask, I might not answer,” Stiles was grinning his shit eating grin and he tilted his body toward Jimmy, waiting for the question. Derek remembered that pose well, it was Stiles’ ‘I’m waiting’ look.The shift in his body moved the collar of his shirt and Derek saw the outline of a tattoo on Stiles’ collar bone.His heart stuttered._

_“So you broke up with him because you needed to go sow your wild oats, hey is that where you got the title,” The both laughed, Erica, Boyd and Derek groaned and the cheesy line but they were all engrossed in the interview “But you always talk about him, about how things remind you of him, you never really get into another relationship and it’s been almost three years, so why end it?”_

_“Well Jimmy, David put it best when he said if I stayed I’d resent him and we’d be miserable and if I left he’d resent me and we’d be miserable, the timing just wasn’t right.I still love him, hell, I’m still in love with him and if seeing all the most beautiful places in the world doesn’t change that I don’t think anything will.”Any double in Derek’s mind that this ‘David’ was him was washed out with that.He had said those exact words to Stiles, standing in his nearly empty apartment in New York._

_Stiles looked different now, Derek catalogued everything about him as he watched, he seemed less fidgety, he had clearly grown more comfortable in his own skin, he sat back in the seat with ease, his grin was relaxed.He had faint laugh lines around his mouth and eyes now, his hair was a little longer and it was more controlled but that was probably just for TV._

_“So are you going back home to get him back then?” Jimmy asked and Derek’s heart stopped beating._

_“Not yet,” Stiles said, he sounded a little sad as he said it, “I want to make sure I got all my wandering out before I go back because I already broke a promise to myself to never hurt him, I don’t do it again.”_

_“We have to go to commercial but we’ll be right back with Stiles Stilinski, author of_ Wild Oats _.”_

_Derek tore his eyes away from the TV screen to look at Erica and Boyd, “So... I'm David?  Maybe I should actually read the book.”_

_The second part of the episode consisted of Stiles and Jimmy playing ‘Box of Lies’ and involved a lot of laughter out of Stiles, the kind of laughter the tore Derek apart and put him back together at the same, the kind that made him realize he was lying when he said he wasn’t still madly in love with Stiles, to no one more than himself._

 

**August 27 2020**  

Derek knew who was at the other side of his door before he opened it.It has been the same person for the past ten days.After Stiles showed up on the 17th they talked and agreed to take things slowly, to be friends.The next day he had showed up before Derek needed to leave for work with a cup of coffee and a smile, the day after a bagel.Every day for the past 10 days he had brought Derek something before work but he hadn’t today and Derek was a little disappointed.

The knocking grew louder, it was nearly 11 PM, Derek was wearing a pair of faded BHHS sweats and no shirt when he pulled the door open and saw Stiles, his left arm in a cast, his nose looked broken too under the splint one his face.“Sorry I didn’t make it this morning,” was all he said before pushing past Derek and walking into the house.

“What the hell happened to you Stiles?” Derek asked, running his fingers over his nose gently, Stiles still winced at the contact.

“Well Roscoe has seen his last days,” Stiles said with a sad shrug.He lowered himself onto the couch slowly, like it hurt to move, “My dad’s pretty pissed I’m going to look like someone beat me for his wedding pictures but what can I do?”

“Stiles, what happened?” Derek asked as he sat down next to him on the couch.

“Apparently deer hang out in herds now and I’m convinced they’re running an insurance scam.One ran into the road and I swerved to avoid it and somehow hit the other two deer it had been hanging out with, then the Jeep flipped and here I am.” He shrugged and then grimaced in pain. “Had to spend the night at Beacon Hills Memorial and everything, bruised my ribs nice and pretty.”

“Let me see,” Derek said and Stiles used his right arm to tug his shirt up, revealing very black and blue ribs along with a nice line across his chest that must have been the seat belt.It also revealed the tattoo that Derek had noticed on Stiles collar bone over 2 years ago when he was on Jimmy Fallon.It was a familiar line that he and Stiles had often quoted at each other through their relationship in handwriting that looked eerily familiar.He lifted his hand and traced over the words as he said them out loud, “Wherever is your heart I call home.”

He looked up to see Stiles flush red under the bruised skin. “That was my first one.” He said softly.

“Is that my handwriting?” Derek asked him, his voice shaking slightly.He knew the answer already. Stiles pulled out his wallet and took from inside a very faded scrap of paper with the same words written on them.“You kept that?”

“I told myself I’d throw it away when it stopped being true.” Stiles said looking Derek right in the eyes.“It hasn’t stopped so I still have it.”

“Can we stop taking it slow,” Derek asked, his hand on the side of Stiles face, ready to pull him close and kiss him, “I’m kind of over pretending I’m not still in love with you.”

Stiles closed the gap, kissing Derek chastely before pulling away, Derek’s eyes were still closed then he pulled back, he could feel Stiles’ breath on his lips when he spoke, “Come to my dad’s wedding with me as my date, then we can take the next step.I want to do this right Derek, I owe that to you.I want this to be the forever we promised each other a long time ago.”

“Since when are you the rational one?” Derek said with a laugh.He knew the answer, since he left, since he spent five years growing up and into this man in front of him who was both his Stiles and a Stiles that he wanted desperately to know better, to map every inch of him.  

“Probably since I wrote a best selling book about all my feelings,” Stiles said with a laugh and kissed Derek on the forehead before standing up, “Mind giving me a ride home, I kind of walked here.”

 

**January 2 2020**

_“Why won’t you let me set you up with anyone,” Erica whined, they were at their weekly Sunday brunch with the whole gang and Erica’s new boyfriend.“I swear you’ll love this one, he's kinda like Cal only not like Cal at all.”_

_“You also said I'd love the last one and you saw how that worked out” Derek said with an eye roll. “The last time I liked someone it was Cal and we dated for awhile and it didn't work out.Let me be single, I’m enjoying it.”_

_“You mean you’re reading Stiles’ blog and hoping that his talk about the wedding next summer mean he’s coming home for good,” Lydia said as she took a bite of her egg white omelet.Scott looked up at them at the mention of Stiles._

_“He’s definitely coming,” Scott said with a grin.He gave a meaningful look before he turned back to his conversation with Isaac and Kira.It was still weird to Derek that they were all back in Beacon Hills, well almost all of them, a place that they had all wanted to desperately to be free of and yet they were all back here and all so happy, at least, for the most part._

_“I’m not waiting around for Stiles Stilinski,” Derek said honestly, “I just haven’t met the right person here.”_

_“Because you_ **_already_ ** _met the right person,” Isaac said from the other end of the table, “You might not be consciously waiting for Stiles but on some level you are because you’re still in love with him.” Damn Isaac and his perceptiveness. “But it’s alright because he’s clearly still in love with you if his blog and book are any indication.”_

_Derek was quiet for the rest of brunch, taking in the sounds of his friends, thinking about Stiles last blog post.He was quiet famous on the internet these days, his last post had over one million views.‘Sometimes I wake up in a panic, my hand reaching out for a warm body that hasn’t been there in years and I remember that I’m not home, that I’m living my dream.I think someone forgot to tell me that after a while living your dream alone get’s lonely.’His heart had broken a little at that line, Stiles may have chosen to leave but sometimes he wondered if he was too scared to come home and face what his life would be._

 

**August 21 2020**

 

“Man, this is my second best man speech in as many weeks,” Stiles said with a laugh.He was wearing a fitted white button down and grey vest, his blue cast matched the decorations and Derek wondered if he had done that on purpose.His shirt on his left arm was rolled up to his elbow since it wouldn’t hit over his cast on his wrist.  

“My dad is the best man I’ve ever known and I know a lot of people say that about their parents but it’s true this time, I swear.” Stiles said with a laugh, “It was just me and dad for a long time after my mom died, I was just this little shit of a 9 year old and dad put up with me and raised me to be this big shit you see today.”Everyone laughed at that.

“Scotty was around before mom died, Melissa came over every day for two months after she died and made sure we were eating.It wasn’t until ten years later that dad let himself move on and be happy and I’m so glad he did because Melissa is the light of his fu- frickin’ like and mine too.It’s great to finally be able to call my second mom, just mom and call my best friend my brother.We’re one lucky family.”Stiles moved the mike to his cast hand and picked up his glass, “To our family, better late then never daddy-o, I’m glad you’re finally happy in all aspects of your life.”

After everyone raised their glasses in a toast, John Stiniski stood up and took the mike, “I know it’s not normal for the groom to give a speech but we’re not a normal group.”He grinned at his new wife and his son, “I just wanted to say how glad I am that everyone is here and how wonderful it is to have my son back home, for what I’m hoping is a long time.”

He glanced at Stiles who was grinning from ear to ear, his fingers on his left hand closing around Derek’s, “And I’m even more glad that he pulled his head out of his ass and finally, _finally_ got back together with that Hale kid.”Derek laughed, remembering exactly what moment the sherif was referencing. 

 

**January 4 2011**

_“Aw Jesus Stiles, can’t you be like a normal kid and make out in your bedroom?” The sheriff said as Stiles and Derek broke apart from their very intense make out session on the floor of the Stilinski’s living room.“And did it have to be that Hale kid, he looks like he’s 30.”_

_“Dad come on he’s younger than me by 2 weeks,” Stiles said with a frown, “And I really like him so be nice.”_

_Derek’s face was beet red as the sheriff said, “Just keep it in your pants in the living room kids, I really don’t want to see my son’s erection.” Stiles buried his face in his hands and Derek nodded as John Stilinski walked out of the living room._

 

**November 7 2020**

Derek looked down at the book in his hands, it had a picture of Stiles’ back as he leaned up against the ‘Welcome to Beacon Hills A Nice Place To Call Home’ sign.The title was bold and white across the top of the cover,  Coming Home .It was a brand new copy, Stiles had given them to all of group.

He opened it, the spine cracking as he did.After the title page he saw the dedication ‘For Derek, wherever is your heart I call home.’, A smile spread across is face, the kind that Stiles said lit up the world. 

“Oh don’t read it in front of me,” Stiles said with a laugh as he sat down next to Derek.They were on a flight to L.A. for the last leg of Stiles’ book tour.He rested his head on Derek’s shoulder, Derek felt completely content.  

Derek ignored him and continued reading.The book had come out the week before and was already at number 4 on the New York Times Best Seller list.“You know you didn’t have to come with me,” Stiles said as the captain announced their decent, “I know you have work and a life that you can’t just pick up and leave whenever you want.”

“I wanted to come,” Derek said honestly, tucking the book back into his carryon bag, “Who could pass up the opportunity to see their boyfriend on Ellen?” He kissed Stiles on the temple.It also didn’t hurt that he loved Ellen. 

“I know your game Hale,” Stiles said with a laugh, “You just want to meet Ellen, this has nothing to do with me.” 

“You caught me,” Derek said laughing as they exited the plane.“Do we have time to go to the hotel or do we have to go right to the studio?”  

Stiles pulled out his phone and said, “Looks like we have to go right there, Keesha said they were sending a car for us.”Keesha, his manager, had also input the entire weeks schedule into Stiles’ phone calendar because she knew that if she didn’t he would spend the week traipsing around L.A. instead of doing anything for the book.He spotted a sign that said ‘Stilinski’ and grabbed Derek’s arm, “That’s us.” 

It should have been a short ride to the studio where Ellen was filmed but L.A. traffic was a nightmare, so almost an hour later they arrived and Stiles was ushered into hair and makeup while Derek sat down in the guest lounge and continued reading.When Stiles reemerged a while later Derek looked up and as he often was, he was taken aback by how handsome Stiles was.“You look great,”

Stiles shrugged, he was wearing a pair of black fitted dress pants,grey Ked’s, a a fitted white button-down with the top three buttons undone.“I wish I could wear my usual look but Keesha wants me to look more grown up this time around, she says that it’ll bode well for me when it comes to the third book, but I haven’t even finished the third book.”

Derek tugged him in, he could tell that Stiles was on edge today, maybe this was just how he was before talk shows, he hadn’t been there last week in New York when he did Fallon, Kimmel and Colbert. “You look, great, the book is great, you’re going to do great out there and then after you’re going to introduce your boyfriend to Ellen.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and kissed Derek lightly on the mouth before an assistant came back and said, “Mr. Stilinski we’re ready for you.”

“I’ll be back,” Stiles said kissing him again and then he made his way out to the stage, Derek settled back in the lounge to watch on the flat screen TV.

“Welcome Stiles!” Ellen said with a big grin, Derek couldn’t help but smile too, all the tension that Stiles had been showing back with him had melted away when he stepped onto the stage, “It’s so great to have you back, I’ve got so many questions.”

Stiles shot her a wide grin, “I’m sure you do.” 

“I won’t beat around the bush, in your last book you talked a lot about a ‘David’ and in this book his name is Derek, is it the same guy?” Ellen said with a sly grin.They had been expecting that question, Derek had given Stiles the go ahead to use his real name knowing full well that these questions would come.

“Yeah, it’s the same guy,” Stiles said with an even wider grin, Derek knew that look, it was the one that he wore whenever he told Stiles he loved him, when they were bickering about something silly and Stiles would stop and say something like, ‘I’m the luckiest.’

“So I’m guessing with the name change there comes a change in your relationship with him?” Ellen asked and Derek laughed, everyone had asked that question so far and Stiles had given the same answer each time.

“Well you’ll have to read the book and find out won’t you?” Stiles said and laughed, “I wouldn’t want to spoil the ending.”

“Oh come on you said that on every other show,” Ellen said, fishing.

“Well it’s still true.” Stiles said, then he paused and added, “Not ruining the book at all, but what I sad last time I was here is true, I’m still in love with him and I always will be, he’s a life changing experience that I just keep on experiencing. I saw England on Bonfire Night, Rome on Easter, China during the Chinese New Year, I’ve seen the most breathtaking sights in the world and for five years that was my life but most nights I would go to sleep missing the most breathtaking view, him.”

“Sounds like you could write an entire book about him,” Ellen said with a big, Ellen smile.“You dedicated the book to him with a quote from a song by Brandi Carlile, can you tell me a little about that?”

“That was always our song," Stiles shifted a little bit and unbuttoned another button on his shirt, pulling it back to expose his tattoo, “I got this a couple years into my travels to remind me that wherever he is, that’s home.”

“So right now home is the guest lounge then?” Ellen asked and Derek flushed red as he saw his face on the screen.He knew that this was a possibility when he asked to come with Stiles, knew that Ellen liked to surprise people.He waved at the camera.

“I suppose so.” Stiles said as the screen flashed back to him.He had a goofy smile on his face and then he added, “Too bad it wasn't a sloth, I freak out like Kristen Bell around those.”The audience laughed and the interview continued.  

 

**August 11 2020**

_“Stiles gets back today,” Lydia said with a small, knowing smile on her lips.“Think you’ll come out for a drink with us?”_

_Derek’s heart stopped for a second, “Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”_

_“No reason,” Lydia said as she walked away from Derek’s table at the coffee shop, “We’ll be at the Beacon at 8.”_

_He had known for almost a month that Stiles was coming back today, he had known for longer that he was coming back for the weddings but still it was nerve racking, he hadn’t seen Stiles in 5 years, they had occasionally exchanged texts but mostly what he knew came from second hand information and from Stiles’ blog itself.Plus there was still a small part of him that wouldn’t believe he was really coming back until he saw it himself._

 

**October 2021**

 

“So when are you guys moving in together,” Isaac asked on Sunday on their way to brunch.Stiles had left Derek’s house early that morning to get coffee with his dad before the usual Sunday meet up.“You’ve been back together for over a year.”

“We’re taking things slow still,” Derek said honestly.

“Okay but you were together for almost 5 years before and you never moved in together so are you telling me that you’re taking things slower than that?”

“Who knows?” Derek said casually.The truth was that they had been looking at houses together, Stiles was living in a small, one bedroom apartment downtown that he rarely used and Derek felt like his house was _his house_ and not their house.  

Isaac rolled his eyes as they approached the restaurant and Derek parked his car. Inside most of the group was already seated at their usual table, Lydia as engrossed in conversation with Boyd and Erica, Scott and Stiles were seeing who could put more sugar in their coffee and still drink it while Kira watched with a face half fond, half disgusted, Derek and Isaac slid into their usual seats, Derek kissing Stiles before taking a sip of the sugary coffee Stiles pushed in front of him. 

“We have an announcement,” Scott said after everyone had ordered.They all quieted and looked at him, “Kira’s pregnant!”

“DUDE!” Stiles said with a huge smile, “I’m going to be an uncle!”

Everyone congratulated them and Derek couldn't help but sit back and grin at the group around him.This was his family and it was finally complete with Stiles’ head on his shoulder.  

After brunch Stiles slid into Derek’s car, he had probably hitched a ride with Scott and Kira.“So our bid was accepted,” he said once they were safely out of hearing range of their friends, “At the place down on Maple Street.”

“That was our favorite,” Derek said, feeling a huge rush in his stomach.He was going to own a house with the love of his life.This was real, this has happening. 

“Anywhere with you is my favorite.”

 

 

**June 4 2024**

 

****“I had a huge speech written about the epic love story that is the story of Stiles and Derek,” Scott said, his glass of champaign in one hand, the microphone in the other, “But then I figured we’ve all waited 14 years for this moment so I’m just going to say, _finally,_ and we can all move on.So to Stiles and Derek, finally.”

There was an echo around the hall of the word as everyone raised a glass to the couple. Kira was sitting at the head table with her and Scotts daughter Alyssa on her lap, Erica sat with her hand firmly in Boyd’s, it had took them long enough to figure it out too, Isaac was grinning stupidly at them, Allison Argent with her head on his shoulder, Lydia’s smile was widest of all of them. Derek placed a soft kiss on Stiles’ lips. 

Stiles rested his head on Derek’s shoulder as they danced, all eyes on them.“So Keesha said my new book has enough pre-orders to break the record for a nonfiction books pre-sale.”

“Wow, really?” Derek asked as they swayed to the music in the background.“I can’t say I’m surprised, especially after the interviews you gave for  Coming Home .”  
“True, everyone wants to know more about the elusive Derek.” Stiles said smiling at him and kissing him lightly, “I appreciate that Scott incorporated the title into his speech too.” 

“Yeah, well, everyones pretty glad we _finally_ got our act together.” Derek said with achuckle.“I mean we’re past our primes, we’d be old maids without each other.”

The song ended and Stiles laced his finger through Derek’s.When they got home that night they were greater by their Husky, Oreo and Derek grinned wider then ever. There was a copy of Stiles’ new book on the front table,  Finally ’s cover was simple with hands laced together with wedding rings on it in black and white.He cracked it open as Stiles took Oreo outside, the dedication was in bold letters reading ‘Again this is for Derek, without you I’d be lost.I dedicate this book to us, because we finally figured it out.”  

Derek grinned as Stiles came inside and kissed him all the way up to bed. Finally was right.

 


	4. Bonus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I read the comments and then I reread the story and I see where some of you are coming from, it does seem like Derek just waited around for Stiles. In my head he was working really hard to move up in his family business and dating casually, but that wasn't a huge focus for him. I hope this clears some stuff up. 
> 
> I hope you like it!

**July 23 2018**

_“I swear to god Erica, if you try to get me to leave this spot I’m going to kick your ass,” Derek said without opening his eyes. He was laying on the beach, sunglasses on and ready to enjoy his first real vacation since starting at his family development company over three years ago. The shadow over him didn’t move and he cracked one eye open. “You’re not Erica.”_

_“Is she the busty blonde playing volleyball over there,” The guy asked with a bright smile, “Because if she is, she sent me over here to say hi.”_

_“Why?” Derek asked as he sat up onto his elbows and lowered his sunglasses on his nose to get a better view of this guy, he was very tan, probably a surfer if the shaggy blond hair and body said anything, “Is she trying to get me to go socialize with them? I just spent 8 hours in a car with her and there’s only so much I can take at once.”_

_The guy laughed, a full bodied laugh that made Derek smile, “Nah, she asked me to come hang out with you, make sure you weren’t over here all lonely.Well, actually her exact words were, ‘pining away for some guy who might never come back’ but I think she meant lonely.”_

_“I’m Derek.” He said after a second, he leaned forward and shook the guys hand._

_“I’m Cal,” The guy said with another smile.“So where did you drive from, eight hours is a pretty long drive.”_

_“Little place called Beacon Hills, it’s about an hour north of the Bay.” Derek said as Cal sat down next to him on the towel.“We’re taking a group vacation, something I think I might regret.”_

_“Beacon Hills, is that near Redding?” Cal asked as he looked at Derek.He had bright blue eyes and a strong jaw with thin lips.He wasn’t Derek’s usual type, he usually went for fair skin, dark hair and full lips, but this guy seemed interesting and Derek couldn’t bring himself to look away._

_“Yeah, maybe 30 minutes from Redding,” Derek said with a shrug, “Do you know people up there?”_

_“My grandparents own a cabin near Redding, I go hiking and climbing up there all the time.” Cal said, grinning, “Maybe I’ll hit you up next time I’m up there.”_

_“Maybe you should,” Derek grinned back, maybe this vacation wouldn't be a total bust after all._

 

**May 4 2025**

“Babe,” Stiles called as he walked into the house, he was holding a bag of Chinese take out in one arm and a six pack of beer in the other, “You home?”

“I’m in the office,” Derek yelled back and a minute later, Stiles appeared in the door, open beer in hand.“Where’s mine?” Derek grumbled as he shut his laptop and stood up to kiss Stiles.

“In the kitchen with dinner,” Stiles said with another smile, “I got your favorite.”

“I thought we were eating healthy?” Derek asked as he fished an egg roll out of the bag and taking a bite, groaning happily as he did.

“Eh, I figured tonight was a night for celebrating.” Stiles said with a twinkle in his eye.He took another swig of his beer and added, “I got some great news today.”

“Did you get that fourth book deal signed?” Derek asked as he grabbed plates out of the cabinet and started loading his full of pork fried rice and beef with broccoli. “I thought you weren’t signing until June?”

“Better news than that.” Stiles said as he pulled an envelope out of his back pocket and handed it to Derek.“Much better news.”

“Mr. and Mr. Hale-Stilinski we are excited to tell you that your application for adoption has been chosen by an expectant mother, we have attached the details to this letter.Congratulations on your acceptance, the mother looks forward to meeting you!” Derek read and then dropped the letter and grabbed Stiles’ face, pulling him in for a kiss. 

“We’re going to be dads!” Stiles said with a wide smile after Derek stopped kissing him.There were tears in both of their eyes.Stiles wrapped his arms around Derek’s neck and held him close, the Chinese food lay forgotten on the counter.

 

**October 3 2018**

_“So Cal,” Lydia said as she sipped her latte, “You and Derek have been seeing each other for awhile now.”_

_“Lyd,” Derek said warningly.He and Cal had been doing the casual dating thing since they met at the beach over the summer.Whenever Cal came up to camp or hike Derek would join him and if Derek ever had business near Long Beach he would meet up with Cal.It was a good thing they had going, for the first time since Stiles left Derek wasn’t constantly reminded of him._

_“I’m just asking,” She said, narrowing her eyes at Derek.  
“Yeah, we have,” Cal said with a winning smile, “Derek’s great.I just wish we didn’t have to wait weeks between seeing each other.”_

_Derek hummed in agreement and Cal kissed him on the cheek, “You two are cute.” Lydia said and took another sip of her latte.Something in that sentence didn’t sit right with Derek but he ignored it, instead he turned toward Cal and kissed him softly._

 

**August 2 2025**

“The baby is coming!” Stiles yelled up the stairs as he tried to tug his left shoe onto his right foot, “Derek, the baby is coming right now!”

“Stiles, her water just broke, I don’t think the baby is coming at this very second.” Derek said, kissing his husband’s temple and putting his own shoes on. “Come on, I’ll drive.”

They pulled into the parking lot of Redding General Hospital 45 minutes later and Stiles had finally calmed down enough to get out of the car.“And you’re sure we have everything we need?” He asked as they entered the building.

“I don’t think we have _everything_ ,” Derek said with a small smile, “But we have what we need for right now, the car seat, diapers, formula, the blanket my grandma knit for it.” He looked away from Stiles and said to the nurse at the desk, “We’re here for Lily O’Neill, we’re the fathers.”

The nurse smiled and directed them toward room 345.Derek grabbed Stiles by the hand and kissed it softly.“You think we can do this?” Stiles asked quietly when they made it to the room.

“Yeah,” Derek said as he kissed Stiles on the forehead, “We totally can.”

15 hours later, Lily O’Neal was sleeping in a hospital bed as Derek and Stiles lay on the other bed in the room, Stiles had their new baby boy in his arms, Derek’s wrapped around his shoulders as he looked at the baby.

“What should we name him?” Stiles asked quietly, so not to wake the sleeping baby or teenager who had just birthed him.

“What if we named him Neil, after Lily’s last name?” Derek asked and Stiles broke into a huge grin.  

“Hi Neil,” He said to the sleeping infant, “Can his middle name be Patrick?”

“No,” Derek said, laughing, “We aren’t naming our son Neil Patrick Hale-Stilinski.”

“How about John? It’s both our dad’s names,” Stiles said, looking at Derek with another smile.

“I like it,” Derek said and he kissed Stiles before extracting himself from the bed and taking Neil from Stiles.“We should get him to the nursery to get fed and then should get some sleep while we can.”

Stiles nodded and they made their way to the nursery where an older nurse took the baby and set him gently in a crib.Derek set his arm over Stiles’ shoulder and said, “Sleep?”

“Hell yeah,” Stiles mumbled in agreement.“Hey Der?”

“Hmm?” Derek asked as they walked back toward the room where Lily was sleeping.His eyes were practically closed while they walked.

“There’s a handsome blonde gentleman who keeps looking at you like he knows you,” Stiles said and Derek’s eyes flew open.He looked at the nurses station and saw Cal sitting there, he raised his hand in a small wave that Cal returned. “Who’s that,” Stiles said in a singsong voice.

“That’s Cal,” Derek said as Cal walked toward them.“Hey Cal.” 

“Hey Derek,” Cal said with a small smile, “Hi, I’m Cal,” he said as he extended his hand toward Stiles.

“Stiles.”

“Oh!” Cal said, smiling a little wider, “You’re THE Stiles.It’s great to meet you, Derek talked about you a lot toward the end of our, um, thing.”

“Did he,” Stiles said, giving Derek a look that clearly said, ‘you’re a dick’, “I’m sorry about that, really.”

“Honestly, I’m surprised we lasted as long as we did with the distance, by the time I got the job up here it was pretty much over,” Cal said waving his hand dismissively.He was really just a cool, chill guy and Derek still appreciated that about him, “So what brings you guys to Redding General?”

At that moment a nurse came up to Stiles and Derek and said, “Mr. and Mr. Hale-Stilinski you really should get some rest before you take Neil home.”

“You guys had a baby!” Cal said with a small smile, “Congratulations!”

“Thanks, it was good seeing you,” Derek said with a wave as they walked away.

“Nice meeting you Cal!” Stiles called over his shoulder.Once they were safely back in the room Stiles look at Derek with a smirk, “So that’s Cal.He seems nice.”

“Do we have to do this right now?” Derek asked, not wanting to ruin the happiest day of his life with Stiles yelling at him about an ex.“You can yell later.”

“Why would I yell?” Stiles asked, looking affronted, “I knew you dated while I was gone, I’m glad you did, I did too.He really seems nice and while I’m glad you guys didn’t work out because now I’ve got you I’m also glad that you had someone like him while I wasn’t here.You dated him for almost a year Derek, I’m glad you had that.”

“Oh,” Derek said as they slid into the small bed and closed their eyes.

“Yeah, oh,” Stiles said and Derek could hear the smile in his voice, “Now shut up and sleep so that we can be rested when we take our son home.”

 

**May 24 2019**

_“So I have an interview for a job in Redding,” Cal said as they lay in bed at Cal’s grandparents cabin, they had just spent the morning hiking around the woods and the afternoon getting some more exercise in the bedroom._

_“That’s nice,” Derek said, his voice sounding far off.He was reading something on his tablet.“Good luck.”_

_“We’d be really close if I get it.” Cal said, leaning over to kiss Derek and frowning when he saw that Derek was engrossed in a reading about land development in NorCal.“Derek can you stop working for a minute?”_

_“Huh?” Derek said, putting down the tablet, “Sorry, we just have a really big bid coming up and I want to be ready.It’s my first one since taking over as head of marketing and development and I want to be perfect.I worked my ass off for four years to get here.”_

_“Yeah, I know.” Cal said and he laid back down on the bed.He sounded defeated, but Derek didn’t notice, he went right back to reading._

 

**June 3 2019**

_“I think we should take a step back from this,” Cal said, they were sitting at the coffee shop in Beacon Hills, “You’re really busy with work and you’ve been distracted for a month.”_

_“I’m sorry,” Derek said and he really meant it.Cal was a great guy, funny, smart, and the last year had been nice, but it wasn’t what Derek was looking for.Cal was almost too nice, he didn’t have any of the biting humor that Derek loved for the snappy comebacks.“Maybe we can stay friends?”_

_“Yeah, maybe,” Cal said as he stood up and walked out of the shop, leaving Derek sitting there feeling bad for how he_ _had treated Cal for the last few months but not feeling sad that it was over._

 

**August 15 2025**

“He’s perfect,” Isaac said as he stood over Neil’s crib and watched him sleep. The whole gang was over for the first time since he was born, Kira had Alyssa down stairs in the living room building a puzzle with Allison and Lydia while Scott and Isaac were upstairs cooing over the baby.  

“Yeah, he is,” Stiles said, smiling at his son.He and Derek had both taken a month off of working to spend time with him and they were so in love, “he’s the best thing that ever happened to me, but Derek’s a close second.”Stiles phone started vibrating and he looked at the caller and groaned, “Gotta take this.”

He stepped out of the room to take the call and Derek smiled softly.“So Stiles met Cal,” Isaac said almost as soon as he was out of the room.

“That he did,” Derek said, “It was weird, but good, Stiles liked him.”

“Not surprising,” Scott said with a laugh, “At first he was worried that you didn't date anyone else while he was gone so I think meeting someone that you dated was probably good for him.”

“I told him I dated other people!” Derek said with a small laugh and he looked down at his son’s face and smiled, “It doesn’t matter now anyway, look at this little guy, that’s what matters.”

“I know the feeling,” Scott said, smiling as he heard Alyssa’s high pitched laughter down stairs. “Kids have a way of making you realize that there are some things in life that just don’t really matter.”

Stiles stepped back into the room, kissed Derek and put his hand gently on Neil’s chest, “Sorry about that, my editor wants me to have an outline for her by next week, but I think I’m changing the book a little so I’m going to have to bow out to work on that.”He said goodbye to everyone, kissed Neil and went down the hall to the office.

 

**June 6 2020**

_“I’m glad we could meet up,” Cal said as he ran his fingers through his hair, it was shorter now, much less surfer and much more grown up._

_“Me too,” Derek said with a small smile.They were sitting at a coffee shop in Redding near the hospital, Cal was on his lunch break.“I really at sorry for how things ended between us.”_

_“I know you are,” Cal said with an encouraging smile.“I just wanted to let you know there’s not animosity here.I know why you threw yourself into your work and I get it, when my college girlfriend broke up with me, I threw myself into surfing and kind of ignored real life for awhile.”_

_“What?” Derek asked, a little surprised._

_“You think I didn’t notice the way your eyes lit up whenever someone mentioned Stiles or how you read his blog whenever it came out, it’s alright, I think we both helped each other with our respective issues, I’m totally over Caroline now and you know that you’re still in love with Stiles.” Cal said and Derek knew him well enough to know that he was being sincere._

_“I’m sorry,” Derek said and again, he meant it, he really hadn’t wanted to hurt Cal at all but by the end of their relationship he had realized that he was still in love with his ex, he had tried to move on but he just couldn’t._

_“Don’t be,” Cal said, smiling and standing up to go, “I really hope it works out for you guys, he’s coming back to California in August right?” Cal laughed at Derek’s surprised expression, “I read the blog too, he’s really talented and he’s a lucky guy to have someone like you who loves him so much.”_

 

**March 2026**

“I told them no book tour this time,” Stiles said as he stretched out on the couch with Derek.Neil had finally gone down not five minutes prior, “I can’t leave you with that little monster.”They both laughed.

“They agreed to that?” Derek asked as he flipped on the TV and put on Fallon.“I’m a little surprised they didn’t ask you to bring Neil with you.”

“He might have been half of the inspiration for the book, but there’s no way in hell I’d bring him on a talk show, he’s my little six month old angel/terror and no one else can have him.”

Derek wrapped his arms around Stiles and smiled, the new book was called  The Best Adventure and after the success of Stiles fourth book  Confessions of an Ex ExPat everyone was excited.It had been a year since Stiles had put out a new book and people were getting antsy.“I’m glad you’re not going.” 

“Why would I ever go anywhere again, I’ve got the best adventure right here in my house.” Stiles said with a smile and leaned up to kiss Derek, slipping his hand around Derek’s neck and pulling him close. 

After everything they had been through, both together and apart, Stiles finally felt what Derek had felt about Beacon Hills.Some people need to get out of their hometowns for a while and see new things, Derek had done that in New York City but by the time college was over he was ready to go home and settle down.He didn’t feel stuck in Beacon Hills because he had chosen Beacon Hills. It’s where his family is, his friends, and everything he could want in life.

But some people are more like Stiles, they need to go out and see the world, to make sure they aren’t missing anything before they find a home.Derek understood that about his husband.He knew that Stiles wouldn’t have been able to settle down anywhere until he had seen what he needed to see.“I’m glad you came back.”Derek said after a few minutes of quiet, the only sound was the TV softly mumbling and Neil’s breathing on the monitor.

“I’m glad you didn’t end up with Cal,” Stiles said softly, “I’m sorry I took so long coming back to you.”

“If you had come back sooner, I might have still been figuring myself out too,” Derek said honestly, “I think our timing was pretty perfect this time around.” 

He leaned down and kissed Stiles on the forehead just as the monitor began to make sounds, “I got him,” Stiles said extracting himself from Derek’s arms.He walked up the stairs and heard Stiles start talking to the baby, “Hey little man, you gotta get some sleep so that me and your daddy can hang out like grownups.You know I love you more than anything in the whole world but I love your daddy just as much and I know that little dude since I’ve seen it all and this right here with you guys is the best adventure I’ve ever been on.”Neil stopped fussing at the sound of Stiles voice and Derek smiled, it really was a great adventure they had going here. 

 


End file.
